Cyberbullying and the spread of hate messages are increasing social problems, exacerbated by the use of social media. In 2023, about 14% of the German population was affected by cyberbullying at least once, and exposure to hate messages shows an annual growth rate of about 10% over the last five years. Although there are numerous awareness and reporting campaigns, there is no comprehensive solution that is integrated into everyday applications. The "CYLENCE" project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), aims to develop strategies and tools to optimize the integration of cyberbullying awareness and prevention information into everyday technologies. The aim is also to create a precise picture of the situation for investigating and prosecuting authorities. The project enables cross-media reporting of incidents by citizens via various communication channels, automatic detection of potential cyber abuse cases in public social data sources and visual analysis for early identification and prioritization of cyberbullying and hate messages. In addition to the University of Bamberg, the Technical University of Darmstadt, the University of Potsdam and Virtimo AG are also involved in this project.

Project duration: 01.08.2023 - 31.07.2026
Contact: Jana Lekscha